The Arctic in the Soviet cinema lens: “Two Oceans” by Vladimir Shneiderov
Journal Title: Arctic and North - Year 2019, Vol 35, Issue 35
Abstract
The study aims at introducing unstudied materials, i.e., film documents of the Soviet period, related to the development of the Russian North, into the scientific circulation. So-called expedition films occupied a special place in the history of Soviet visual anthropology — films of educational content about the peoples and territories of the USSR. They reached its heyday at the turn of the 1920s — 1930s. One of the pioneers of Soviet visual anthropology is considered to be the filmmaker V.A. Shneiderov, the author of a series of films about the USSR territories (“The Great Flight”, “The Pamirs (the bottom of death)”, “At the height of 4500”, etc.). In addition to solving creative issues, the production of such films was part of a state experiment on the construction of local images and the country. The Soviet authorities used the resources of the cinematographer as a media source and agitation. In this article, the author considers the example of the expedition film “Two Oceans”, the classic of documentary films where V.A. Shneiderv pictured the history of the Northern Sea Route and the Soviet colonization of the Arctic. The context of the filmmaking, i.e., parallel processes in Soviet cultural politics and cinema, is discussed as well. The author conclusions contain thoughts about the research value of the Soviet expeditionary film as a complex historical source.
Authors and Affiliations
Ivan A. GOLOVNEV
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP685029
- DOI 10.17238/issn2221-2698.2019.35.144
- Views 215
- Downloads 0
Arctic Agenda of SPIEF 2023 — Digital, Economic, Environmental, and Socio-Cultural Aspects
The article summarizes the results of the 26th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2023), which took place in St. Petersburg from June 14 to 17, 2022. V. P. Zhuravel, Head of the Centre for Arctic Studies...
Labor Market Features in the Russian North: Employment, Wages and the Role of Northern Allowances
This article focuses on the labor market in the Russian northern regions. The labor market in the Russian North was formed due to the state policy of the no longer existing state, aimed at the active attraction of migran...
Industrial Policy and Transformation of the Consumer Market of the Russia’s Arctic Regions
The article considers the state of industrial policy in the subjects of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation both in terms of the status and dynamics of the regional consumer market and the mechanisms of state regul...
No righteous man exists without honoring books. Manuscript book of the Russian North of the 15th – 20th centuries (exhibition materials)
The article represents the review of manuscript books of the 15th – 20th centuries introduced at the exhibition “No righteous man exists without honoring books. Manuscript book of the Russian North of the 15th– 20th cent...
System problems and directions of municipal development of the Russian Arctic
The subject of the study is the municipalities of the Arctic, their specifics of functioning and development in comparison with the southern regions of the Arctic states. The purpose of the work was to identify problem a...